Thursday, June 30, 2011

Yali Jubilee



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Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 1 thess 3:12-13

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I don't think i fully understood Paul's heart until I watched this video of the Yali people celebrating the 50th anniversary of the day the first missionaries arrived in their villages.

the celebration involved spears and chanting and dance and was not at all the typical 'western' notion of christianity. But I was so moved to see them celebrate in such a big way. Where they live is so remote and cut off that the first missionaries had to hike over mountains to reach them ... and when I think how many lives were saved because of that....

They know that too. You can see it.

the bible says over and over again that the word of God is living water that will give eternal life. But too often I take it for granted. the multiple copies of the bible scattered around and forget that if it hadn't been for similarly intrepid men who came to Singapore, I would never have heard the gospel too.

I hope when the Day arrives, I'll get to celebrate alongside these people. And those two missionaries who hiked all the way to find them ... I hope they get to meet all the people they helped spread the Word to.

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